Frank Beaurepaire
Encyclopedia
Sir Francis "Frank" Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire (13 May 1891 – 29 May 1956) was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n distance freestyle
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

 swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to the 1924 Summer Olympics
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, setting 15 world records.

He was also a decorated politician and businessman, serving for ten years in the Victorian Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...

 and as Lord Mayor of Melbourne and building a multi-million dollar tyre business empire, Beaurepaires and Olympic Tyres.

Early life

Growing up in Melbourne, he was educated at Albert Park
Albert Park
Albert Park may refer to:In Australia:* Albert Park, Lismore, home to international baseball stadium Baxter Field* Albert Park, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne** Albert Park and Lake, the park itself...

 State School and Wesley College, Melbourne
Wesley College, Melbourne
Wesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...

 Australia. Beaurepaire had his first swimming lesson at the age of four, when his father dropped him into the sea water baths at South Melbourne
South Melbourne, Victoria
South Melbourne is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne...

 with a rope tied around his waist. He often practised in the sea, close to where effluent was ejected into Port Phillip Bay. Later, when he had earned more money, he paid two cents to enter the now demolished Stubbs' South Melbourne Baths to train. His career was nearly ended when he was hospitalized for 12 months with rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that occurs following a Streptococcus pyogenes infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, the illness typically develops two to three weeks after...

. However, encouraged by his schoolteacher Tommy Horlock and South Melbourne barber Tommy Horlock, who later became his coach, Beaurepaire fought off the ailment and resumed training with the Albert Park
Albert Park, Victoria
Albert Park is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip. At the 2006 Census, Albert Park had a population of 5827....

 State School Swimming Club.

Swimming career

In 1906, a few months before his 15th birthday, Beaurepaire won the 220 yd (201.2 m) and 440 yd (402.3 m) freestyle at the Victorian championships. In 1908, he captured the 440 yd (402.3 m), 880 yd and mile freestyle events at the Australian Championships to claim a spot in the 1908 Summer Olympics
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

 team. On arrival in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 with Horlock no arrangements had been made to pick them up, so they were forced to live with 16 pounds between them for a month before officials became aware of their plight. Beaurepaire trained in London for three months before the Games. Unable to afford admission to swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

s, He was forced to train at Highgate Ponds, at temperatures of 10°C. After a 15 miles (24.1 km) event in the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 prior to the Olympics he was numbed by the cold to such an extent that he collapsed and needed to be pulled from the water to avoid drowning. Later he won the 880 yd (804.7 m) British Championship at Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

, defeating Henry Taylor
Henry Taylor (swimmer)
Henry Taylor was a British freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1906 Summer Olympics, in the 1908 Summer Olympics, in the 1912 Summer Olympics, and in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, and continued to swim competitively until 1926...

 of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, and then proceeded to win the 220 yd (201.2 m) event at Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

.

Arriving at the Olympics, the competitors were confronted with a pool dug into the athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

 track, with no filtration or chlorination, effectively being a muddy pond. Beaurepaire had caught influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...

 and finished in second and third in the 400 m and 1500 m freestyle respectively, both events being won by Taylor. He was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m freestyle. He also finished fourth in the 4x200 m freestyle relay. After the Olympics, Beaurepaire again raced Taylor over 500 yd (457.2 m) and one mile (1.6 km) in Britain, winning the latter, in which some 20,000 spectators attended.

Returning to Australia, he broke the 300 yd (274.3 m) world record at the Melbourne City Baths. He reappeared prominently in 1910 when he won more than a dozen state and national titles, breaking the world 220 yd (201.2 m) freestyle record in the process. His tour of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 later that year resulted in world records in the 200 m, 300 m, 300 yd (274.3 m), 400 m, 500 m and 1000 yd (914.4 m), three of which were achieved in one race. He later swept all of the British championships from 100 yd (91.4 m) up to one mile (1.6 km). He competed in 41 first-class and championship races in four months, winning all of them.

In 1911, after his long return by sea to Australia, he suffered his first defeat in three years and was forced to abandon the 440 yd (402.3 m) freestyle event at the Australian Championships mid-race. Due to exhaustion, he took a break from competitive swimming to become a swimming instructor, earning 3.10 pounds a week with the Victorian Department of Education as a physical education instructor. He was barred from Olympic competition by the International Swimming Federation
International Swimming Federation
Fédération Internationale de Natation is the International Federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee for administering international competition in the aquatic sports...

, which ruled him to be a professional, although he was not earning money for swimming. This ruled him out of the 1912 Summer Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...

 in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, where the Australian 4 × 200 m freestyle relay team won gold. The decision to bar him was reversed in 1914.

He joined the Australian Defence Force
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...

 as an infantryman, but was invalided and joined the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 services, and served in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 before being hospitalized in 1917 with trench fever and gassing, and being returned to Australia.

In February 1920, he won the Victorian championships, and soon after broke the 1000 m world record and qualified for the 1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....

 in Antwerp. With swimming held in a near-freezing open-water canal, Beaurepaire abandoned the 400 m freestyle mid-race due to illness, but managed to claim a bronze in the 1500 m freestyle. He combined with William Herald
William Herald
William Herald was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1910s and early 1920s, who won a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp...

, Ivan Stedman
Ivan Stedman
Ivan Cuthbert Stedman was an Australian freestyle and breaststroke swimmer of the 1920s, who won a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp...

 and Henry Hay
Henry Hay
Henry "Harry" Hay was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1920s, who won a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp...

 to claim the silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, some 21 s behind the American squad. His sister, Lily
Lily Beaurepaire
Lilian "Lily" Beaurepaire was an Australian woman swimmer and diver who represented Australia at the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp...

, also competed as part of the swimming and diving team, becoming the first brother-sister combination to represent Australia at the Summer Olympics
Australia at the Summer Olympics
Australia has sent athletes to almost all editions of the modern Olympic Games. Australia has competed in every Summer Olympic Games, and most Winter Olympic Games, the latter each time since 1952....

.

Back in Australia and later in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 that year, he broke the 1000 yd (914.4 m) and one mile (1.6 km) records, and twice broke the 1000 m and 1500 m records. He was named as the captain of the swimming team for the 1924 Summer Olympics
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. He was eliminated in the heats of the 400 m freestyle, but at the age of 34 to claimed bronze in the 1500 m freestyle, behind fellow Australian Boy Charlton
Boy Charlton
Andrew Murray Charlton , known popularly as Boy Charlton, was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1920s and 1930s who won a gold medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris...

 and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's Arne Borg
Arne Borg
Claes Arne Borg was a Swedish swimmer. He is best known for breaking 32 world records during the 1920s.He won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1926...

. He won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay alongside Charlton, Ernest Henry
Ernest Henry
Ernest Henry was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1920s, who won a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. He also competed in the 100m freestyle...

 and Moss Christie
Moss Christie
Maurice "Moss" Christie was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1920s who won a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris....

.

His last competitive appearance was his victory at Kew, Victoria
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....

 in the State Championships in March 1928, which he won at 37 years of age. In all he set 15 world records over a span of 13 years, winning 79 Victorian titles, 11 British titles and a record 34 Australian titles. It was not until 2000 that Susie O'Neill broke his Australian record.

Beaurepaires and Lord Mayor

In 1922, he was awarded the Royal Humane Society
Royal Humane Society
The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned, for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near drowning....

 Gold Medal and 550 pounds, a significant sum in that era, after assisting another lifesaver, Jack Chalmers
Jack Chalmers
John "Jack" Chalmers GC was a New Zealand born Australian recipient of the Albert Medal, formerly the highest decoration for gallantry awarded to civilians or to military personnel for actions "not in the face of the enemy" in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth...

 in rescuing a shark attack victim at Coogee, New South Wales
Coogee, New South Wales
Coogee is a beachside suburb of local government area City of Randwick. It is located 8 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is also a part of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney....

, a suburb of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. He used this to start Beaurepaires
Beaurepaires
Beaurepaires is an Australian and New Zealand tyre retail and repair chain started in 1922 by Frank Beaurepaire a former Olympic swimmer for Australia and Australasia, with money he received for rescuing a shark attack victim from the water at Sydney....

, which when he died in 1956 had assets worth more than eight million pounds. He attended the 1932 Summer Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...

 as a swimming official and judge. From 1940 until 1942 he was the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, and in 1948 he was part of a delegation that went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to lobby at the 1948 Summer Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...

 for Melbourne to host the 1956 Summer Olympics
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...

. In 1949 Melbourne won the hosting rights and Beaurepaire was again re-elected as Lord Mayor so that he could preside over the Games. However, he died of a heart attack in the barber's chair at the Windsor Hotel
Windsor Hotel
Windsor Hotel may refer to:in Australia*Hotel Windsor , Australiain Canada*Windsor Hotel , Canada*Windsor Arms Hotel, Toronto, Canadain Japan*The Windsor Hotel Toya Resort & Spa, Hokkaidō, Japanin the United States...

, just seven months before the Games. His son, Ian Francis Beaurepaire
Ian Francis Beaurepaire
Ian Francis Beaurepaire is a former Lord Mayor of Melbourne.Beaurepaire was the son of Australian Olympic smimmer and prominent businessman, Sir Frank Beaurepaire. He was Lord Mayor of Melbourne from 1965 to 1967. He married Beryl Beaurepaire in 1947 and the couple had twin sons.-References:...

, was also a Lord Mayor of Melbourne.
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